Seven deaths a blemish on popular Nairobi stadium

Twenty-seven-year old Nyayo National Stadium has been a symbol of unity, as well as the nation’s pride, if the events it has hosted are anything to go by.

Only two months ago, all eyes on the continent were fixed at the stadium as the 2010 African Athletics Championships took place.

This was followed by a match between Kenya’s Harambee Stars and the Cranes of Uganda that saw fans flock the stadium in droves.

An estimated 40,000 fans had filled up the 26,000-seater stadium, at least according to the world football governing body – FIFA, and thousands others were locked out holding tickets.

But besides football and athletics contests, the stadium hosts concerts, national holiday celebrations, meetings and gospel crusades.

It has a FIFA approved standard size football pitch, two VIP lounges and a boardroom, Internet enabled media centre and floodlights.

Other features include basketball, boxing, badminton, martial arts facilities as well as computerised scoreboards. It also houses the Kenya Football Federation and the Athletics Kenya offices.

In February 2009, it was renamed Coca Cola National Stadium after the multinational company won the naming rights.

The deal was worth USD 1.5 million (Sh120 million) and would have seen the beverage company undertake branding marketing of the stadium for three years.

Three months later, however, Coca Cola withdraw from the contract, because the government wanted to have the stadium branded as Coca Cola Nyayo National Stadium.

“The proposition put forward to us by the Minister for Sports (then Prof Hellen Sambili and SSMB) – to co-brand the stadium with its current and former names – was against the spirit of granting exclusive naming rights to a sponsor.

“We were therefore unable to perform our obligations under the contract,” said Alex Maditsi, the Coca-Cola country manager, Kenya. SSMB stands for Sports Stadia Management Board.

The giant beverage company named the stadium Coca-Cola Stadium and soon after began sprucing it up to turn it into a world class venue.

It was hailed as an historical deal that was happening in Kenya for the first time and in line with global trends where the legitimate owner of a sports facility gives up the rights to name the facility to an independent sponsoring institution (usually a corporate body or brand) at an agreed fee and for an agreed period of time.

The media and the public quickly picked up the name with many affectionately calling it the “Brrrrr stadium” after the current slogan for the company’s flagship product, Coca-Cola soda.

Trouble soon surfaced with Prof Sambili saying in April the deal was improperly done and the name Nyayo could not be dropped because it was part of the country’s legacy.

If the deal had gone through, the stadium would have been at the level of Ellis Park in South Africa, one of the stadiums that hosted the World Cup.